Wednesday Morning Roundup

Today in the roundup: Reviewing Kitchen Dog’s ‘Becky Shaw,’ the Undermain’s new blog and a big donation for the Perot Museum.

CTA TBD

HELLO, BECKY: Kitchen Dog Theater opened its new season with the regional premiere of Becky Shaw. In Gina Gionfriddo’s play, two people are set up for a blind date that goes terribly wrong, to comedic effect. “Kitchen Dog Co-Artistic Director Tina Parker directs the piece with an emphasis on superb performances, matching the right emotional rhythm for the material with a coherent vision of the play’s intentional disarray,” is how M. Lance Lusk sums it up in his Front Row review. Lawson Taitte was also pleased with the performances and singles out Parker’s work. But he’s got problems with the play itself. “Imagine the disappointment when the worst never quite happens,” he writes on dallasnews.com. “Becky Shaw keeps threatening, or promising — depending on your point of view — to follow in the footsteps of Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf? or August: Osage County. But the gorgon never quite turns around to stare at us.” You can judge for yourself through Oct. 6. And if you want a behind-the-scenes look at the show and insight from the actors, be sure to check out the Becky Shaw blog.

INSIDE THE UNDERMAIN: Speaking of theater blogs, the Undermain Theatre now has its own blog. It’s actually been around since late last year, but the posting has really picked up since the end of August. Check out the discussion from this week about Undermain’s Literary Department and its role in defining the theater’s “literary footprint.” The theater opens its season Sept. 29 with An Illiad.

A BIG DONATION: Dell Services announced this morning that it is donating $6.5 million in technology and services to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. The donation will support the museum’s IT operations and youth education in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM). “STEM education is crucial to our nation’s youth and our company’s future, and this museum is a groundbreaking example of innovation in education and technology,” Dell Services president Steve Schuckenbrock said in a news release. The museum is scheduled to open in January 2013.

Stephen Becker produces the shows Think and Anything You Ever Wanted to Know for KERA. As part of the Art&Seek team, Stephen produces radio and digital stories, along with the podcast "The Big Screen," with Chris Vognar, movie critic of The Dallas Morning News. View more about Stephen Becker.